St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 66, LIU Brooklyn 53
11/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Box Score | Notes | St. John's 66, LIU Brooklyn 53 - Nov. 19, 2014 
Nov. 19, 2014
Head Coach Steve Lavin
Opening statement:
"There were a couple of bright spots tonight, but at this stage of the year we know no coach is ever pleased with a team's rate of progress. There are still several areas we need to improve on. We are 3-0 now and have to get ready for one of the best teams in the Big Ten - the Minnesota Gophers."
On rebounding:
"Gene Keady, my former boss and life-long mentor, believed that if you have the right set of players, rebounding is the least important statistic in basketball. We are not likely to be a dominating rebounding team because we are playing with a diminutive, highly skilled, quick pressing unit."
On Sir'Dominic Pointer:
"In a coaching career there are certain players who are going leave a lasting impression because of their personality, their style of play or a combination of both. Dom is one of those unique talents that can be a catalyst to us having a successful season. He will be central to what we do on both sides of the ball. For us to have success we need him to be one of the premier defenders in the country."
On heading to The Garden:
"The energy and the atmosphere is what makes [Madison Square Garden] a special venue. Being a part of the NIT Season Tip-Off over the Thanksgiving break in New York City is as good as gets. This is what you come to college for, to play in games like this and participate in a tournament with a history that is second to none."​
Senior Guard D'Angelo Harrison
On Sir'Dominic Pointer:
"Dom has always been an x-factor on the team. When he plays like this, it's great. Sometimes he almost has quadruple-double, that is just the kind of player he is. That is what Dom is capable of every game."
On Rysheed Jordan:
"Rysheed is a big-time player. He is capable of this every night. His goal is to be consistent throughout every game. He was in foul trouble in the first half, then turned it up in the second half. That is the kind of player he is."
On preparing for Minnesota:
"Tomorrow we will watch film on this game then we have to get ready for Minnesota. We watched them play against Louisville. We are going to watch a lot of film on them and get to know their personnel."
Senior Forward Sir'Dominic Pointer
On his improvement this season:
"It's a new season and our numbers are back up. This summer I worked harder and it is starting to show up now. I felt like I was hurting the team by not scoring [last year]. At the end of the day, D'Angelo [Harrison] was getting double-teamed, so now you have to cover me and that opens up everybody else."
On what he needs to improve on:
"I have to rebound more. I'm the second biggest guy on the floor now. I have to get 10 rebounds a night for us to win. We have to work on boxing out."
LIU Brooklyn Head Coach Jack Perri
On the plan heading into game:
"We had a game plan going in and I thought our guys did a pretty good job of it overall. We talked about transition defense and not allowing them to get out and go. Against this team, we wanted to make it more of a half-court game and slow the tempo down. I think we did a decent job of that. We didn't give them much transition in the first half. In the second half, unfortunately, they got some run outs. Maybe fatigue played a bit of a factor in that, but that certainly hurt us."
On tonight's performance:
"St. John's is a good team. Obviously there are a lot of seniors on that team, a lot of experience. For us, it's a process because we are playing so many young guys. There was a point with 12 minutes to go in the game where I had five freshmen on the court and they were getting stops. They played with some grit and toughness. Overall, I was happy with our effort, not happy with our outcome, but at the same time I think we can make progress off of that. It was a good learning experience for us."
